Star Wars Merchandise Wiki:Blocking policy
Blocking is the means by which an administrator prevents a user account or IP address/range from editing Star Wars Merchandise Wiki. Blocks are preventive rather than punitive measures used to prevent damage by dealing with vandalism and enforcing Star Wars Merchandise Wiki policies. Block duration may vary, depending on the severity and longevity of vandalism, but in most instances a block can be lifted if the editor agrees to stop the damaging behavior. All users may post block requests at administrators' talk pages. Because of the dynamic nature of IPs, and the related risk of collateral damage, most blocks should be in the range of 24 hours to 1 month, with exceptions noted below. Only in very rare cases should non-proxy IPs be blocked for more than three months. When considering blocking, it is important to remember the axiom "Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity" – article blanking or addition of fanon may just be a well-meaning attempt to expand the encyclopedia or remove inaccurate information. Always, assume good faith. Grounds for blocking * Vandalism – Vandalism is defined as any bad-faith edit made with the intent to lower the quality of the wiki or disrupt the functioning of the community. In most cases, users should be warned prior to blocking, though final discretion is left to the administrators. * Spam – Posting irrelevant spam links in articles, or creating articles which are entirely spam is grounds for an infinite block (for registered users) or a shorter-term IP block. * Move vandalism – Page move vandalism (such as Willy on Wheels) is grounds for immediate indefinite bans. * Inappropriate account naming – Creating an inappropriate account name - be it in terms of user impersonation/insult, or general rudeness/obscenity is also grounds for a no-warning infinite block. * Disruption – Users who disrupt the wiki (be it via changing other people's comments, making misleading edits, or harassing other users) may also be blocked. * Copyright violations – Users who continually post copyrighted material despite being warned should be blocked so as to prevent further violations. * Blanking articles – users should typically be warned prior to being blocked for article blanking, except in extreme cases where the blanking is obviously being done with malicious intent - i.e. 4 articles blanked in one minute. * Personal attacks ''' – Users attacking other editors personally (in regards to anything) should be given one warning prior to a cool-off ban. The length of the ban is dependent on the severity of personal attacks. * '''Posting personal information – the posting of personal information regarding other people (i.e. their home address, phone number, etc.) is unacceptable, and will be enforced with blocks. Users doing so should be warned, and blocked if they continue. * Open proxies – Due to vandalism concerns, we do not allow editing from open proxies. When they are found, they are to be blocked indefinitely. Block length guidelines With the exceptions noted above, blocks should usually progress according to the following table. Final discretion is left to the blocking administrator on a case-by-case basis. A note to AOL users AOL uses a shared IP system (meaning they give out the same IP addresses to several people), so if you use AOL and are blocked for vandalism you didn't commit, contact an admin for assistance. Due to the fact that many of the acts of vandalism to this wiki come from AOL IPs, we block each AOL IP that made the offence. The only way not to get blocked due to the actions of others is to switch Internet Service Providers (ISPs). If this is not an option, then just refresh your page until the block message goes away and do any major edits offline.